Children read at the Traveling Stories tent at the City Heights Farmers Market. | Photo Courtesy of Traveling Stories
By Maureen Cavanaugh, Patty Lane
and Peggy Pico
A shopping trip to a farmers market is a regular part of the week for many San Diegans. It can be a family excursion to buy produce and flowers or maybe a sweet snack.
But thanks to a Santee-based nonprofit, a visit to a farmers market also can be a chance for kids to strengthen their reading skills.
That opportunity is being offered at farmers markets in City Heights and El Cajon at the Traveling Stories tent. At the markets, a special area is set aside where volunteers work with children to encourage them to read aloud. For each book the children read, they’re rewarded with “book bucks” that they can use to buy fruit snacks, pencils, erasers, backpacks and board games.
It’s a way to help children learn, and it has its own backstory.
For more information about the nonprofit, or to donate books or volunteer, go to TravelingStories.org.